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Babe, tell me the truth …
Clover Hogan
2,879 posts
Clover Hogan
@cloverhogan
Climate activist | founding Executive Director @fon_xyz | researcher on eco-anxiety | plant burger enthusiast 🌱
- This is terrifying. Not the headline... I'm familiar with the science. No, what's terrifying is how far I had to dig through my news notifications to find this story. What's terrifying is that this headline is not #trending on every social media platform. 1/4
- Earlier this year I was approached to appear on this show #TheActivist I was contacted by someone "looking for passionate activists who are actively engaged in making an impact in the areas of environment, health, education, and reducing world hunger." I took a call with them.Usher, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Julianne Hough will host competition series ‘The Activist’. Activists go head-to-head in challenges to promote their causes, with their success measured via online engagement, social metrics, and hosts’ input. (deadline.com/2021/09/usher-…)
- Repeat after me: individual actions will not solve the climate crisis 🙅♀️ Narratives such as "technology will save us" and "it's up to individuals to change their habits" are just as insidious as outright climate denial. We must keep our attention on where power lies... (1/2)
00:00 - Replying to @cloverhoganI won't relay what has already been said so eloquently by folks like @jameelajamil @DijahSB @myeshachou @xinwenxiaojie. What I will add, from BTS experience, is that they were not interested in the issues - at all. They only wanted a story. & a story manufactured for Hollywood.
- The most insidious form of climate denial is no longer, "It's not happening," but the belief that incremental or tech solutions will solve this crisis. 1/6
00:00 - Replying to @cloverhoganAt the end, he revealed that this would be a competition show with activists going against each other for resources. I remember thinking I was in a Black Mirror episode. When the call ended, I cried & called my mum. The whole time, I was made to feel as if I was failing a test.
- Replying to @cloverhoganThey spoke about bringing activists together to solve global challenges. Yet every question I asked received an evasive answer - what's the purpose? How are they finding activists? Is it about collaboration? How are they platforming folks who have been historically excluded?
- Replying to @cloverhoganThe weeks following, I tried to block the experience from my mind... only to receive an email that I'd been successful (yay me) w/ an invitation to meet the whole production team. I politely declined. & declined again, when told to reconsider as "this is such a huge opportunity".
- The richest 1% of people are responsible for more carbon emissions than the poorest 66% 🤯 Still, there are people who argue that “overpopulation” is to blame… and point the finger at countries like India and China, while their own governments double down on fossil fuels. 1/3
00:00 - Replying to @cloverhoganAfterward, this dude looked irritated. He said I sounded like a robot, talking from a script. He asked me to do it over, this time with more emotion, and gave me pointers of "what the producers want to see." We repeated this several times; until I burst into tears. "PERFECT!!"
- Replying to @cloverhoganThe "interview" was the worst I've ever experienced. When asked about my background, I mentioned growing up in nature, feeling heartbroken when I discovered documentaries, choosing to become an environmentalist at 11, moving to Indonesia, working with grassroots communities...
- Replying to @cloverhoganI wish I'd taken the evasiveness for the giant red flag it was. But this person kept emphasising what a brilliant opportunity it would be to put eco-anxiety on the agenda, & said my Q's would be answered on another call. So, I agreed to an interview with a producer from the show.
- Replying to @cloverhoganI'd done what he wanted, apparently. I felt humiliated. The only explanation I have for not hanging up then and there is gaslighting. I kept thinking, 'Perhaps I'm just being dramatic. This is showbiz, right? He's just trying to help me communicate better. I chose to be here.'
